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Program Analyst

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Research and Development Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is in the office of the Associate Chief of Staff for Research & Development, which provides a variety of support for active Research Investigators, VA personnel and non-VA personnel. The employee is a key member of the staff. The employee will act as Protocol Analyst for the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) IRD. S/he will provide technical and interpretive procedural and administrative support and management for the Institutional Review Board (IRD).

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
06/30/2025 to 07/10/2025
Salary
$61,111 to - $79,443 per year

The salary range listed reflects the GS base rate (not including locality). Upon selection, the salary will be adjusted to include locality.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Nashville, TN
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel required up to 5% of the time.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CARX-25-12751403-RMc
Control number
839718500

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to CTAP/ICTAP eligible applicants, VA employees, Federal employees in the competitive service, VEOA eligible applicants, 30% disabled veterans; and other status eligible applicants.

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Duties

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This is a bargaining unit position.


NOTE:The first 50 qualified and eligible candidates who apply will be considered for referral to the selecting official. Additional candidates will be referred based on hiring needs and or hiring manager requests.


Work Schedule: Mon- Fri 8:00am-4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Analyst/PD70304A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required.


Major Duties:

  • Creates step-by-step guidance, local processing instructions, and templates for Principal Investigators (PI) and other key project personnel who submit applications for review by the IRB.
  • Provides additional face-to-face education/training for PI's and staff for project submissions and system procedures.
  • Incumbent exercises independent authority to advise, inform and instruct investigators and/or research team personnel to insure required federal, state, and local laws and regulations are addressed appropriately in the research application.
  • Incumbent conducts in-depth review and creates reports that summarize the results of her/her administrative review. Provides in-depth scrutiny of complex documentation provided by the research investigators requesting review and approval by the (IRB).
  • Reviews a broad spectrum of documents, such as conflict of interest declarations, drafted consent form templates, HIPPA authorization templates, information security management plans for complex research studies/project for completeness, accuracy and ensures compliance with local and federal policies and regulations.
  • Incumbent assigns primary and secondary reviewer(s) correlating the scientific methodology associated with the research project and the clinical and/or scientific expertise of the committee members ensuring the protection of human research participants and to ensure that risk of harm to participants is minimized.
  • Analyzes application packages to determine the appropriate type of review by the board. Analyzing completed submission and forwarding to appropriate committees based on type of submission requirements.
  • Maintains and prepare electronic records of the IRB recommendations and final decisions regarding VA research.
  • Incumbent prepares and submits ongoing and new studies to Research and Development Committee. Regularly attends IRB meetings to present and clarify protocol implementation.
  • The employee maintains up-to-date knowledge of federal regulations regarding research involving human subjects.
  • Process, review, prioritize and forward "Adverse Event" submissions as submitted to ensure timely notification to appropriate reviewers and management, in accordance with applicable federal and VA regulations regarding patient safety.
  • Conducts quality assurance reviews as directed.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
  • Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
  • Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
  • A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
  • Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
  • All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
  • Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/10/2025.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade.

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

AND

You may qualify based on your education/experience/combination as described below.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.


Specialized Experience GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as Creating step-by-step guidelines, local processing instructions and templates, Exercise independent authority to advise, inform, and instruct investigators and/or research team personnel, conducts in-depth review and create reports, & Reviews a broad spectrum of documents.;

OR

Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree Or LL.B. or J.D., if related;

OR

Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-09 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-09. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on educatio

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Process Control
  • Administration and Management
  • Applies Technology to Tasks

Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties.

To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

IMPORTANT - Per the Fair Chance Act that went into effect 10/02/2023, agencies cannot require and cannot screen out applicants for not submitting a OF-306 or VA Form 10-2850. Verify this document is not checked or added as required or optional documentation under the Supporting Documents Section of this Vacancy.

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (or the Act) prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from requesting applicant criminal history record information before extending a conditional or tentative offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S.C § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Act, may submit a written complaint within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged non-compliance to VA at vacofairchanceact@va.gov. Applicant written complaints should include the following:

  • Administration name: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
  • Office name, employee name and contact information or contractor who made contact (if known).
  • Date of contact.
  • Details regarding the job opportunity announcement applied to, and copies of any documents or other evidence related to the complaint.
  • Visit Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) for more information.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

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